To fly with clipped wings
by iron-darkness
Summary: This was supposed to be an ordinary day, but somehow one mission was able to change it all.
1. Chapter 1

This was supposed to be an ordinary day. But somehow a pesky sorceress managed to ruin it by just being there and doing her voodoo thing.

We thought she was another petty villain who became one because of their issues. Luckily, she wasn't like that and she, unlike some other villains had some actual powers.

There are so many powerless villain wannabes that generally just annoy everyone with their overblown dramas. For example a guy who shot acid everywhere because her girlfriend left him. He also claimed that his girlfriend liked dating villains.

And because of her, all of the Avengers are currently at least a little bit freaked out.

********* 2 hours ago**********

The Avengers were all in the common room. Thor was eating pop tarts and watching a horrible TV show with Steve. Clint had his hearing aids on and listening to the show from the vents. Even though Clint said the show was terrible he secretly loved it.

Natasha was reading a book on the loveseat and Tony was on his tablet, looking over some stuff for SI.

Tony had also been feeling a bit off today so he was a bit grumpy. But because he couldn't go to his workshop he was on his tablet. The reason Tony couldn't (or wouldn't) go to his natural habitat was because on Team Bonding Day (TBD, as he called it), the day prior AND the day after someone *read Nat and Steve* would send a glare at his way when he wanted to go and tinker in his workshop or make him sleep. And for some unknown reason JARVIS sided with them.

Today was the day after TBD so at least he didn't have to cook or play board games or something equally terrible with the team. They didn't even accept his and Clint's idea - a pissing contest. (It was probably declined because of Nat's lack of a dick.) Luckily he could still keep his beloved tablet so he could at least have something to do and not die of boredom.

Everyone was comfortable when suddenly an alarm sounded. It was the Avengers alarm. Someone thought it would raise the morale of heroes if the alarm was a too-happy voice yelling "Avengers Assemble".

It clearly wasn't working because Clint grumbled: "We should really change that damned alarm. Or make it less happy because it actually means that at least one of us may come home mutated."

"If you get mutated there will be even less ladies around you Birdbrain. Which is already zero" said Tony while calling his armor.

"You're an ass Stark. Doesn't Natasha count as a lady? "

Suddenly Natasha cut in: "Clint, I am an independent woman not a lady. And I am around you because I have to. So that means Tony is right," she said smugly

Steve, already in his Captain America costume stopped their bickering saying: „Cut the chatter, all of you. We need to focus on the problem."

"Aye, aye Captain. There's a situation in Queens. Apparently there's some woman there destroying buildings. She's using some kind of energy blasts and she's flying." replied Tony, already in his Iron Man armor.

Steve, after being informed, started giving out orders.

"Hawkeye, Widow, Thor - come to the quinjet with me. Banner, you too. We'll inform you if there's a need for the Hulk. Iron Man, fly ahead of us and inform us about her."

Thankfully, this time everyone obeyed the orders and did as the Captain said.

Iron Man, being faster than a quinjet, flew all the way to Queens and saw a woman tearing down buildings.

As soon as he saw the sorceress, he contacted Cap.

"I've got eyes on her, she's just hitting buildings with some kind of dark purple blasts of energy. The buildings she hit are collapsing and shining a lighter purple. She is wearing an armor of some sort, but that's not probably helping her fly like mine because she has big wings sticking out of it."

"Wings? Like that weird guy we fought like, two months ago? Let's hope this one is not his mommy or girlfriend. I really don't want to be covered in that smelly slime again. Was a bitch to get out of my quiver. And hair. I think I can still smell it in my quiver," asked Clint, now afraid of everyone with wings, because of one shitty encounter.

"I don't think so Barton, she has bird wings instead of these bat wings. And she looks mainly human to me, not like that scaly and bald guy. Maybe she's your relative or something. You should ask her on a date after we beat her."

"No thanks, I can find girls on my own"

"Now can you? The Avengers don't need another male Artemis running around, it's bad publicity. By the way birdy, if your quiver gets dirty, you don't wash it and kiss its boo-boos and tuck it in, you get another one. Why do you think my armor doesn't smell like a dumpster?"

"It's my holy qui-" started Clint, clearly annoyed by the quip, but was cut off by Steve.

"We don't need to start chatting. Iron Man, don't engage before we come unless she starts to do serious damage or if she notices you. We'll be there in five minutes. Inform us of any changes."

Tony landed on the ground not far from the woman. He hid behind a building and observed her, hoping she wouldn't notice him or destroy his Super-Secret Hiding Place (Yes, he knew this was a stupid name, but he wasn't feeling that great today. If he was a little better, he would have named it a better thing). Weirdo Woman (Again, he wasn't as good as he would have been on any other day. The days he had been awake for four days are exceptions as well) was lifting the destroyed buildings up and gathering some kind of glowing thing from them, making the buildings crumble to tiny dust piles.

WW was also muttering something under her breath, but he couldn't hear it, so he turned the volume up. The woman was speaking in a weird language. (He'll record this and let Thor translate it later.) He listened to her muttering and realized that he could almost understand some of it. She seemed to be angry at something (someone?). He could tell that "berectan" was some kind of verb and "tek" meant "I". Suddenly he felt dizzy and when his head cleared, her speaking was complete gibberish to him. He forgot everything about the words he understood when he saw the quinjet in the air.

Unfortunately for him this was the moment Weirdo Woman decided to send a blast at his building, which collapsed like the other ones (Goodbye, Super-Secret Hiding Place, you'll never be forgotten). To protect himself from the building, he flew away, but doing so he revealed himself to the sorceress. Tony sighed and flew to the sorceress, informing the Avengers during it.

The rest of the Avengers put on their gear. Natasha put on her new (Stark made) uniform and took her weapons, hiding them in the uniform with her spy magic. Clint gave up on trying to save his stinky quiver a long time ago, so he had been using a new and improved one ever since. He was also happy that he had new and awesome arrows like the EMP arrow or Screamer arrow (which needed earplugs to protect others from the high-pitched sound). Bruce just put on his super stretchy pants and ran to the quinjet. Thor used his magic to summon his Asgardian armor and took his beloved hammer Mjolnir (Darcy insists its Myuh-Myuh). He didn't want to fly with the quinjet, so he twirled his hammer and just flew beside it. Steve dressed himself in a bulletproof flag and armed himself with a very strong Frisbee.

Clint, Natasha, Steve and Bruce went and sat in the quinjet. Clint flew it towards Queens, Cap was getting more information about the subject and Natasha was loading her guns.

Then Thor thought it was a good idea to start talking. "Even though the Man of Iron's talk was devoid of much knowledge, this villain reminds me of a race far away from the Nine Realms. These people also carried the wings of birds on their backs and used them to fly with the same grace as birds. What also troubles me is that the fair lady Friend Anthony told us about seems to have the same power as this noble race. If she truly is one of them and she is here without Lady Alicia's orders, we need to capture her."

"Who is this race you're talking about Thor? Even if she isn't one of them, maybe she and they have similar or the same weaknesses," asked Steve, interested in the subject.

"This noble race is called the Da'Foren. To know the weaknesses of one, thou must know the color of one's magic and know what that means. Their people wandering on Midgard might be a sign of trouble."

"What kind of trouble do you mean, Thor?"

"Da'Forens rarely comes to Midgard. If these people are here, they may be looking for something or wanting to announce us of a coming war. But I believe they would not choose Midgard for it." Suddenly Thor stopped and said, "Havelin, of course…"

"What do you mean Thor?"

"I believe it is nothing. This lady is probably not even a Da'Foren. Do not worry, Friend Steven!" said Thor, ending with a joyous tone, which was obviously fake.

Steve was suspicious, but dropped the subject and didn't argue further.

"We're almost there, team. I'll land on that patch of grass over there" said Clint.

Bruce, who had been silent the whole time, said: "Clint, that's a football – "

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

"Call me if it's code green. I wouldn't want to not be called when you actually need me because of your pride."

"THAT WAS ONE TIME BRUCE!"

The Avengers were starting to land the quinjet, when they heard Tony speaking from the com line.

"She's taking something glowing out of the destroyed buildings and she made them turn into dust. Try not to get hit with her blasts. OH SHIT, she's got me. Here we go then."

Thor spun his hammer and flew off to help his friend while the other just ran towards the sorceress after they landed their jet. Bruce stayed in the quinjet, took a book from the tiny storage room and started reading.

Clint had to be high, so he climbed on top of a building that he could jump off of if his building was shot with a Blast of Evil.

Tony knew that if he wanted to be alive by the time his team arrived, he needed to annoy WW and dodge any of the blasts she may shoot at him. He flew closer to her and saw that her hands were already glowing, indicating that she was ready to shoot. But then she stopped and he could see the confusion on her face. She started to speak to him, but he didn't know what any of that meant. But then Tony thought it was a good idea to open his mouth and say: "Hey, would you stop destroying our buildings, people live there!" He hoped that whoever this woman was, she would at least know a little bit of English.

No such luck. The sorceress looked disappointed and said "Elzevir" with so much disgust that it could power the Avengers Tower. Her hand started to glow and she flicked it at his way. Tony felt air around him vibrate and he was launched against a house. He fell to the ground, feeling terrible. The skin and muscle around the arc reactor hurt, he felt dizzy and his head pounded.

Then, JARVIS started talking:"Sir, you need medical attention. You have elevated heart rate and a broken arm. Your temperature is also slightly higher. I'll inform the team.

"No Jay, don't, I'll go to medical after the battle. I can do this."

Tony was saved by Thor, who flew to the sorceress and landed on the ground. The God of Thunder yelled something at the woman, who started to land. She closed her wings, which were dark purple on the bottom of the wings and turned gradually lighter on the top. She had a look of horror and realization on her face and she crossed her arms in a strange manner, as if she was saluting to Thor. Then she started talking, but Tony was too far away to hear and still had a headache, so he couldn't concentrate on what they were saying. The Iron Man stood up and walked towards her, but Thor turned and told him: "Stay away, Man of Iron. I'll have a talk with her."

Apparently he had told everyone else this, because the Black widow and Captain America, who he had seen in the corner of his eyes, stopped and backed away. He didn't see Hawkeye, but he thought he was on a still standing building. Bruce was hopefully still in the quinjet, seeing that he wasn't around.

Finally Thor and Weirdo Woman had stopped talking and Tony could Thor speaking in the com line.

"You can come here now. Hide your weapons away; we do not want to scare her with our Midgardian inventions. Man of Iron, I believe it would be best if you step out of your glorious armor."

Sighing, Tony stepped out of his armor, feeling a bit naked without it. He felt another wave of sickness, but he didn't show it. He saw the others coming the sorceress's way and he calmed down a bit. He was surrounded with his team; they wouldn't let anything happen to him.

He stepped towards Thor, but he was still a little wary about the woman.

When all of the Avengers were there, Natasha started to speak: "Who is she and why did she crush all these buildings?"

Thor immediately answered: "Calm down Lady Widow, she is a Da'Foren. Her name is Zekata and she does not mean any harm to us. She was sent here by Lady Alicia herself, but there was some kind of an accident, so she was sent to the wrong place. She is using her remarkable powers to drain energy from the very buildings."

"Drain energy? For what exactly? A Death Star?" asked Tony.

"I do not know what a Star of Death is, but Lady Zekata is planning to use the energy to go back so she can be sent to the right location."

Zekata started talking in her own language again so Thor translated: "Man of Iron, she says that she loves your wonderful armor and thought you were a Da'Foren at first. She also wants to apologize that she threw you at a house."

"Thanks, I guess? This is the first time anyone has ever apologized to me for throwing me at a building."

Thor translated his words to Zekata and then she extended her hand towards Tony.

"Shake her hand, Friend Tony. This is a sign of gratitude."

Tony took her hand and shook it. Suddenly her face twisted to grimace and she yelled something that sounded like:"HAVELIN?! Tarth katgakpa tarr jaf polots!"

She let go of his hand and shot another, a bit redder blast at his way, making him fall backwards.

His whole body burned and his arc reactor seemed to be the center of it. Then his back started to burn, somehow even worse than his chest. He couldn't hear anything and he had closed his eyes long ago. Then the darkness consumed him.


	2. Chapter 2

The Avengers watched how Zekata's face twisted into an angry grimace and she shot a blast at their iron-clad friend, making him fall backwards.

Tony seemed to be in obvious pain, his body tense and face scrunched. Then he stilled.

Clint and Natasha immediately ran to him. Clint searched for a pulse and relaxed a bit when he found it.

"He's not dead, but call Bruce and tell him we need medical," said Clint to Natasha, whose face was expressionless, but Hawkeye's sharp eyes could see that she was worried for Tony.

Meanwhile Thor and Steve had restrained the angry Da'Foren, who (by Thor's face) was yelling terrible insults at them.

"My sincerest apologies Lady Zekata," uttered Thor, before knocking her out with a strong punch. Steve released the tight grip he had on her wings, allowing Thor to pick her up.

By the time he had her in his arms, Bruce had arrived. Then he sighed and opened his mouth: "You know I'm not the kind of doctor who treats injuries. And definitely not the kind of doctor who knows how to treat damage done by magical blasts. Medical will be here soon."

Then Steve looked confused and asked: "Doctor Banner, how did you even know it was a magical blast?"

"I was told she used them so I guessed."

"Anyway, what are we going to do with the voodoo chick? We can't leave her in Thor's arms or here," questioned Clint.

The man carrying Zekata answered:" We do not know the full extent of her power. I must know what she did to my friend. I also wonder why the fair lady did such thing. I can understand her tongue but I only heard something about a vile man named Havelin."

"But who is that Havelin and why is she so violent about him?" wondered the Black Widow, a cold and calculating look in her eyes.

"I have heard of him but I cannot remember what he did to make Alicia herself feel like she needed to find him. And I can't understand why she believes he might be on Midgard."

They couldn't carry on with their conversation because medical had arrived, taking their genius with them.

The heroes didn't bring Tony to a hospital, because there was a whole floor dedicated to medication and healing in the Tower. And it was easier to go their own home than to go to a hospital with awful chairs. Also, some members of the team would be more willing to be patched up there.

They took the quinjet to their awesome tower and Thor could finally let his arms rest, putting the unconscious sorceress on a couch, so they could discuss where to put her.

The Avengers finally agreed to put her in a holding cell and when she woke up, JARVIS would alert them. Thor would be sent in and talk to her. To protect him (even though he probably didn't need it) she would be cuffed to a chair.

They acted accordingly and JARVIS promised to tell them of any changes.

After dealing with her, they moved on to a more pressing matter. Whose name may or may not be Anthony Edward Stark. The medical floor had the best doctors (the ones who heal people, not the ones like Bruce) and comfortable chairs, even though they looked like couches or recliners now.

So, the Earth's Mightiest Heroes were huddled on comfy chairs, that should make them relax, but they were anything but relaxed. One of their own was injured and they were waiting for answers.

After some time, a doctor came to them and informed them: "You can see him now. He hasn't woken up yet, but it should be just a matter of time."

The heroes quickly went to see their fallen comrade. Because this was not an ordinary hospital, the injuries could be seen from a screen, which now displayed Tony's damage.

Everyone but Natasha stayed by his bed, looking at the genius who looked awfully small and vulnerable. His arm was in a bandage and the beeping of a heart monitor could be heard.

The reason Natasha wasn't by his bed was because she was looking at the screen, which showed injuries.

She glanced at it and said: "Looks like he has a broken left arm and a slight concussion. His temperature is slightly higher, but they believe it will go down soon."

Then the calm voice of JARVIS started talking: "Miss Zekata has awoken. She seems to be in distress and is currently fighting against her restraints. I suggest you go to her before she hurts herself."

"Really? She woke up, but Tony didn't. And she was the one who got knocked out by a god!" exclaimed Clint, clearly dumbfounded.

"I believe it is time I go and talk to her. I hope the voice in the walls is speaking the truth and she has awoken," said Thor, a serious expression on his usually joyful face.

The containment room's door swooshed open and a thunder god stepped in. The room's inhabitant glared at him and said in Forendian: "Odinson, why did you restrain me with those objects? They are great at holding me back, but why?"

"Those were to assure us that you have no thoughts of escaping. The reason I am here is to know what you have done to my friend."

"I'm sorry Prince Thor. I thought he was the man I was supposed to locate. He looks an awful lot like him, even though… Tony? Was that his name? He didn't have that cruel gleam in his eyes. Tony seems like a good man."

"I accept your apology for now, but you haven't answered my question."

"Miss Shadowmine sent me here to retrieve his son Havelin."

"I know who you are talking about. Didn't he try to end the war between Icenac and Lavenair?"

"His idea of ending the war is giving them both ways of destroying each other. By now, half of Icenac is covered with millions of tons of lava and even the other half is too hot for them to live in. Lavenair is half covered with ice and the other half is inhabitable for them as well. Only a fraction of people from both planets survived. This is why I reacted so violently. I thought your friend was him. The spell I cast was supposed to rid him of any enchantments. It should have never reacted like this if he didn't have any spells on him."

"So you are saying my friend has spells cast on him? I thought Midgard lacked magic."

"Not just any spells, the ones cast to hide something. He was in great pain, right? That means the spell was powerful or had been on him for a long time. Perhaps it may have been both. You are right; Elzevir has no magic on its own. But magic can always be brought here. Aren't you and me magical? And we don't originate from Elzevir."

"Who would do such a thing? And why?"

"I don't know, but I can try to help Tony. His body must be in shock because of the change, but I can try to relieve his pains. If you'll let me, of course."

"If you can help him, I would of course let you to the room he is healing in right now. But if you try to harm him, even your magic cannot save you."

"I will try my best, Thor. And do not worry, I will not hurt him. Also, could you please free me? I can't do magic with my hands behind me," promised Zekata, an apologetic smile on her lips.

"Of course, but remember; do not harm anyone in here," warned Thor while opening her handcuffs.

Immediately she moved her hands, which were obviously sore from being stuck for so long. She stood up and questioned: "Show me the way. You can't expect me to know the way to the healing room."

"Of course, just walk behind me. I shall lead you to the halls of healing!"

The other heroes were still in Tony's room when Thor and Zekata walked in. They stood in shock and took protective stances, Natasha and Clint reaching for their weapons, Bruce's eyes slightly green.

Thor made a reassuring gesture and begun to explain:" Zekata means no harm to friend Tony. She says that she made a mistake and didn't mean it."

"Are you sure Thor? She might as well have hypnotized you and you might be her thrall," shot Clint back, a distrustful expression on his face.

At that, Thor started to laugh heartily and said:" Don't worry, Eye of the Hawk, she cannot mind control me. She has purple magic, it would take her much effort and I don't doubt you would spot the differences in my behavior if that would be the case."

"What spell did she even cast on Tony?"

"It should have never acted like that on a mortal. It should have not caused anything more than a slight lightheadedness on our comrade. She will now try to wake him up."

Then Natasha darted in:"If she even thinks about harming him, I won't hesitate to shoot her."

Thor said something to Zekata, who nodded and raised her arms. Purple magic started to swirl around them and her eyes started to glow. Then the magic begun to form weird symbols and then crawled slowly towards the person in the bed. The others watched it warily. The magic reached Tony and went inside him, making his veins stand out in a purple light.

Suddenly, he convulsed and the purple light was taken over by a bright blue glow. Everyone in the room looked shocked and Nat shot glare at the magician, as if to warn her. Then the heart monitor went nuts and shut down. Tony stopped convulsing and stilled. Zekata lowered her hands, clearly exhausted from the effort. She walked closer to his bed and took a better look at his face.

All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open, his brilliant blue eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony's eyes snapped open and his hands started clawing on his chest. He writhed in pain, alerting the Avengers, who hurried to his bedside and stopped the genius from hurting himself. Tony was still trying to squirm, but he was held down by his friends.

Natasha twisted Zekata's arms behind her back and pressed a gun against her temple. Surprisingly, the sorceress didn't even fight back, too tired from using magic and taken aback from the effects her magic had on the man. When the gun was pressed against her head, her eyes widened even more and she looked scared.

Bruce hurried to call the doctors, but before he got out of the room, the air vibrated and he hit a wall. He fell to the ground and looked at it. The thing he ran against was not a wall; it was a light blue forcefield, see-through, but with blue magic swirling around in it. It reminded Bruce of soap bubbles.

He raised a hesitant hand and touched it, an amazed expression on his face, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. When his hand reached it, he realized that it was completely solid.

"Bruce, stop looking at the colors and call the doctors, he's a bit hard to hold down," screeched Clint, who was pinning down Tony's arm.

"I can't get through, there's a forcefield in the way. And I have a feeling this wasn't her idea," answered Bruce, pointing at the terrified magician.

"Who is doing it then?"

"Friend Tony. He is the cause of it. Us restraining him is causing him to attack us so violently. Let go!" declared Thor, letting go immediately.

The others holding Tony down released him simultaneously.

The Iron Man started scraping on his chest again. Then he let out a cry of pain and something moved slowly out of his body. The man's teammates looked at them and realized these were tiny pieces of metal. The wounds these metal pieces left healed almost instantly, but the trashing didn't cease. The arc reactor flickered out and the man's body relaxed again, falling unconscious.

Everyone in the room was shocked and Zekata started to mumble in her language. She sounded terrified and thunderstruck. If Natasha didn't have a strong hold on her arms, she would've sunken to the ground.

"I believe she did not want for this to happen. Natasha, would you please let her go?" asked Thor warily.

"Only if you won't let her go. She still needs a bullet to the brain."

Thor grasped her arms just as the Widow let go of them. She relaxed a bit in his hands, but she was still tense, but somehow exhausted as well.

"I shall bring her to the hall of holding. We'll talk to her afterward. And we shall see if she still needs that bullet in her brain.

At the same time, the others were staring fearfully at Tony, whose arc reactor was still dark and dead. Bruce stepped towards him and took a look at him. Upon closer inspection, he saw what had come out of his body.

"The shrapnel…" he whispered.

"What is wrong Bruce? Doesn't he need a new reactor? Is he going to die?" asked Barton frantically.

"I don't think he needs a new reactor. And he is not going to die. Not from shrapnel at least."

"You didn't answer my question, though."

"I don't know what is wrong with him because I don't know anything about magic."

Then Steve darted in and asked:"But what about the force field? Thor thought it could be Tony's making."

"I only have one answer. Though it may seem impossible, Tony has magic now."

Thor strode inside the containment room, the door sliding shut behind him. He harshly released Zekata, who stumbled and fell. She weakly sat up on the floor and turned around to face Thor's enraged face. She quickly opened her mouth explain, afraid that the thunder god may do something to her.

"I am sorry Prince Thor; it was never supposed to be this way!"

"You already said it, but can I trust you? Perhaps you are here to eliminate my friend?"

That enraged the Da'Foren so much that she stood up and faced the god, shrieking: "How dare you accuse me! I am only here to find Havelin! Your friend set up this trap, making you believe I would do such thing!" becoming angrier with every word, her wings spreading out in a threatening manner "Only a skilled magician could twist my magic in such a way!"

"You talk about accusing, yet you make accusations as well. My friend has never wielded magic in his life! You are the cause of this!"

That took Zekata aback and her eyes widened as if she had realized something. Then she opened her mouth and said: "You said he has never wielded magic… When I used the spell to get rid of the spells, it Awakened him in the process. That is why there was a wall of magic in front of the door."

"If what you're saying is true, why did the metal come out of his body? And isn't Awakening done only on small children?"

"The metal was restraining him and the magic forced it out. And yes, Awakening is only done on children. It's like that because adults usually don't survive that."

"Are you saying that the Man of Iron could die?"

"I don't think that he'll die. He's in less danger now. Usually, the initial shock and the explosion of magic that occurs kills the subject of Awakening."

"I don't think you have anything else to say, Da'Foren. You'll stay in this room," said Thor with a tone of finality, restraining her once more.

"JARVIS shall watch over you, so do not try to do anything stupid," said the thunder god, turning his back to the sorceress and walked out of the room.

Natasha had walked out as soon as Thor left with Zekata, her seemingly calm face not quite hiding her anger.

Steve left as well, saying that he couldn't do anything else and went straight to the gym to face a few punching bags.

Clint promised to come back later, after he stepped out of the hospital room and searched for Natasha.

Bruce sat down on a chair next to the inventor's bed, waiting for Thor to return. He only waited for a while, before he saw Thor's big form entering the room.

Seeing Bruce, Thor exclaimed: "Lady Zekata told me that Tony is not going to perish! Isn't it joyous Friend Banner?"

"Zekata told you? How can you trust her on this kind of thing? If this is true, I'll be happy, but when is he going to wake up?"

The thunder god answered him and also sat down on a chair. They talked about other things as well and watched over their team mate.

Neither of them saw a tiny string of blue magic creeping towards the wall behind them. Reaching its destination, it formed a microscopic crack, which was very slowly getting bigger.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve had returned to the hospital room, letting Bruce and Thor rest.

He started drawing Tony and almost got to finishing it, but then Tony stirred.

He was so surprised that he flinched a bit and accidentally ruined the picture.

Tony's eyes flickered open and a Steve felt another subtle vibration of air. He looked around but couldn't notice anything happening. The crack in the wall started growing again.

"Shh… You're in the medical floor, don't panic," said Steve reassuringly.

"Did we get Weirdo Woman?" asked Tony, his voice raspy.

"Who? Oh, right…" Steve paused for a bit and then continued, "Yes, we got her, but she did something to you."

That alarmed the Iron Man, making him try to sit up, but failing miserably because of the weakness he suddenly felt.

"What did she do to me? "He yelped.

"Calm down. She somehow gave you magic."

"Oh thank god, I thought I was going to sprout wings out of my back or something," he relaxed for a second and then realization dawned and he shrieked, "I HAVE MAGIC?!"

"Tony, what did I tell you? Calm down, right now you don't have to panic. It's not active right now."

Just as Steve said these words, the crack grew and a tiny, insect-like foot stuck out of it, wriggling a bit, trying to break free, but the crack was still too small. The foot started moving madly, but the expansion of the crack had stopped.

Cap's words made Tony calm down and slacken. Once relaxed, he lost consciousness again, the news tiring him.

When Tony woke up again, he was alone. Looking out the window, he realized it was nighttime.

He wondered why it was so dark in the room, the Arc Reactor he had always lighted up everything in the room, but now the light was absent.

Panicking, he grasped his chest. His hand immediately touched his reactor. He became a bit less tense, assured that it was still in his chest.

There was still darkness in the room, so he lifted the covers, finding that the reactor was dull and lifeless. All the edge the confirmation that the reactor wasn't absent took away was now back.

His panic fed the crack with energy. The crack begun to widen once more, letting in three more insect legs and half of a gem-like body. It got stuck again, even though it tried to wriggle itself free. From any room the tiny insect left, black sand started to fall on the ground.

Before Tony woke up, a figure stirred in the containment room. Finding that she was alone, she activated her magic. It was weak due to the handcuffs, but with great effort she created a tiny blade of energy. It would not last long, but if she acted quickly, she could slice open her restraints.

Using her big wings to hide her activity, she took the blade in her hand; she moved it to the cuffs and touched them with it. The metal of the cuffs slowly gave in. Moving further, she reached the power source, which sparked angrily, burning her hands and wings a bit. Using her fingertips to hold the blade, which was already coming apart, she reached further and swiped through the power source. The cuffs deactivated and she felt power surging through her.

The Da'Foren remembered that Thor had told of a guardian in the walls that would surely catch her if she tried to escape. She thought what to do with him. She could use all her strength and blast her out of this place and tell Alicia that the mission was a failure. But she couldn't leave a man to struggle with his magic. It had such potential and she could not let it to waste. She could use another way though…

"I am sorry JARVIS." She muttered to the ceiling.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

Zekata stood up, the two halves of the cuffs still dangling from her wrists. Her wings unfolded slightly and she raised her hands. Her purple magic started to swirl around her hands, creating a haze around them. A look of deep concentration appeared on her face. Slowly, but surely the color of her magic changed to a cheerful pink and then to a fiery red. Finally the red turned a bit darker and swirled angrily around her hands and arms. The cuffs fell to the ground; the magic had burned them from her wrists.

The sorceress moved her arms to her front and the magic propelled to the wall, making it glow.

The glow spread to all the electronics in the room. Soon all of the room was glowing in a sickly red tone.

Zekata opened her mouth and started talking: "JARVIS, hear me speak. You shall not warn the others of my escape. You will help me to escape from here. You will help me in any way you can in here," She took a breath and said the last words of the spell "When I'm free, so are you."

Even though Zekata was talking in her own language, JARVIS understood what was asked of him.

"Ye-s-s Ma-dam Ze-ze-kata."

"I hope that was you obeying to me. It has been a long time since I have spoken "English". I am quite rusty. Now let me out of here."

As soon as she said these words, the door opened and Zekata gracefully stepped out of it.

Well, as gracefully as someone who is tired from casting a spell and has big purple wings.

She walked along the hallway, her steps wary and her guard up. She looked behind her shoulder every now and then.

The hallway was dimly lit, due to it being nighttime and to use less power.

Once she was a bit further from the awful cell she had been in, she cautiously whispered:"JARVIS, guide me to Tony, please."

A blue arrow pointing forward appeared on the wall, moving with her, but always staying a bit further away from her.

Then the arrow disappeared. Zekata heard somebody walking in the other hallway, which crossed with hers. Stumbling to hide behind a few crates, she knocked into something and it fell. And when things fall, they make a sound. In this case, a sound that could potentially reveal her and would end with her back into that horrendous room, with these things around her wrists.

Since that somebody was not deaf, they heard that sound.

He looked in that direction and said drowsily: "Clint, if you're in the vents, don't go to my lab." And then he walked away.

Since the maker of the sound did not understand him, she hid behind the crates, frozen in fear, barely daring to breathe.

She stayed in that position for about ten minutes. When she finally dared to look, she saw that the arrow was back on the wall.

She stood up and muttered: "Thank the Jewel."

Then she moved forward, until she reached the intersection. The arrow pointed right and after walking a bit, she reached doors. They opened to an odd room with gleaming metal walls. She eyed it distrustfully, but went in it anyway, trusting JARVIS not to harm her.

As soon as she got in, the doors closed and the room started to slowly move down. She gasped in surprise and leaned on the wall for support.

Then the room stopped moving and the doors glided open. Zekata peeked out and when she saw the arrow, she walked out and got moving.

Tony was lying in his bed, holding his reactor so tightly that his knuckles were white. He was panicking and his heart was beating fast.

The crack only grew bigger with every passing second; the insect was almost free, its mad wriggling paying off.

There was too dark in the room, he was going to die, the reactor isn't working. He can already feel the shrapnel moving to his heart.

Then the door opened.


End file.
